Ahead of the centenary of the world’s greatest race, we catalogue 100 historic moments that helped define the legend of the Grand Prix de Vitesse et d'Endurance
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
How did we decide which moments should make the list? The brief was never about statistics, we wanted instead to focus on key moments that came to define Le Mans and helped the race transcend the usual motor racing histories. As such we include seminal moments and forgotten footnotes; tragedies as well as triumphs.
Our panel of experts comprised of Damien Smith, Gary Watkins, Paul Fearnley, Andrew Frankel, Robert Ladbrook, Gordon Cruikshank, James Elson, Rob Widdows
100 1976 NASCAR rumbles to La Sarthe
Spurred by a new accord with Daytona (sound familiar?), two of NASCAR’s lesser teams were encouraged to race at Le Mans, despite a clash with the stock car race at Riverside. Hershel McGriff’s Dodge Charger, above, from California and a Ford Torino from ‘Junie’ Donleavy in Virginia headed over for incongruous novelty value – and little more. The Dodge’s 5.5-litre V8, used to high-octane gasoline, burned pistons and didn’t last a lap. But the Ford, shared by Dick Brooks and Dick Hutcherson, raced into the small hours before the gearbox failed.
99 1955 The race’s weirdest car turns up
You could see the thought process. Instead of having the engine in front of the driver, with the latter positioned to one side of the former, why not use one to offset the weight of the other, each travelling in their own pontoons clothed within a super aerodynamic shape? The result was the Nardi Bisiluro, a car so slippery it was reputed to be capable of over 135mph with a 750cc BMW motorcycle engine. A shame then that it was so aerodynamically suspect that it was blown clean off the track by a passing Jaguar D-type after the race was a mere six laps old.
98 2010 Mansell crashes out of debut
Nigel Mansell’s first Le Mans lasted all of 17 minutes when a blown tyre pitched his Beechdean-run Ginetta-Zytek into the barriers on the run to Indianapolis. The 1992 Formula 1 world champion, sharing with sons Greg and Leo, took the start in what proved to be his final comeback to racing. During the accident Mansell received a bump on the head from the side-impact structure, but he appeared to be fine immediately afterwards. Years later he claimed it had led to amnesia, which was cured by his new hobby: magic!
97 1981Porsche 917 rides again
